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Thanks for clicking over to Delicious as Pie, a blog about the delicious insanity of a modern woman's life. I'm a self-proclaimed optimist so even in the stressful depths of mom-ing, wife-ing and being-true-to-myself-ing, I do my best to acknowledge my blessings.

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Monday, September 26, 2011

650 choir students from around San Diego, including many from Emma's school, will be singing the National Anthem at tomorrow night's Padres game. As a little teaser, her director asked one of the local news stations to feature them in a segment since they're the only middle school choir attending.

So Emma and I, and a handful of other dedicated/insane parents and students, got to school at 4:45 am. The kids were live three times--once as a teaser and twice as the three choir officers were interviewed and the rest of the kids sang in the background.

Here's the link so you can see my girl a-singing her little heart out... (She's the super-blondie in the first row on the left, just over the shoulder of the last girl interviewed. )

Monday, September 19, 2011

So many times throughout the day, I think "I should put that on my blog" or "What a great blog post this will make". Sometimes I even take photos in preparation for a really great post.

Then I get busy. Or distracted. Or exhausted. Or I just can't remember what I was going to write.

Today, therefore, I'm going to give you a mosaic, if you will. A snapshot of my various thoughts and photos from the past week. It won't be great writing. There may even be a lack of transitional sentences. *gasp*Girl Scouts... We had our very first meeting this past week and it was a BLAST! So much fun, I tell ya! We played a giant board game outside on the driveway, talked about all the great things we want to do as Scouts and made plans for troop government, dues, snacks, etc. Right now I have 9 girls in the troop. How cool is that?!? Woot woot! I'm not sure how the age difference dynamics are going to work, but as long as I keep it low key, we'll be fine.

Student Store... The store at Emma's school that I manage is doing really well. Average as far as sales go, but certain items are flying off the shelves. We can't keep enough kettle corn, baked Cheetos or gummy bears in stock, not to mention the fruit ice we sell. Also available are all kinds of little erasers, pens, school supplies, etc. The sixth graders cannot get enough of the erasers! For the very first time, these kiddos have a couple dollars in their pocket to spend and mom and dad aren't telling them what they can and cannot buy. Of course they want to buy everything they can!

You could look at it like we are providing crap (naughty word, I know, sorry) they don't need. But I prefer to think about it in terms of teaching them how to spend wisely. (Keep in mind that nothing, aside from locks, clothes and yearbooks is over $2.) They'll learn soon enough that maybe the squishy ball they desperately wanted last week wasn't worth the $1.50. Or when it's super hot and they want a fruit ice, they'll wish they hadn't spend their dollar on a hacky sack. Or vice versa. It's all about giving them opportunity to make choices in a safe environment.

I totally love managing the store. I've met some great moms who volunteer to work the windows and gotten to know the school staff pretty well. It does take more time than I anticipated, but that's okay 'cause it's so much fun. And what's more, I feel so good about helping out. Last year, the store raised $15,000 for the ASB! How cool is that?!

Pink Eye... It's been 15 days and I still have it. I. Am. Annoyed. I look like a super-scary monster and people often do a double-take when they look at me. I hate that. Rx #1 didn't work and the verdict is still out on rx #2. I think it's working, but then again, my eyes still look goopy and gross. Better, but not better enough. I've got two more days on the second rx. After that, I'll have to hunt down an opthamologist. I don't have time for this. Seriously.Cheese Souffle... I made some lovely cheese souffles in my toaster oven the other day. I saw them all puffy and golden through the window. I had my camera all ready to document their cheesy and airy goodness but alas, the darned things fell within seconds of hitting the cooler air. I still took photos... (I really ought to put that recipe on the blog. A project for tomorrow. When I'm not brain dead. And watching Wild Hogs. And thinking about the pastries Scott brought home today from a Swedish bakery.)

I still have more to tell you all about... Emma's bday party, progress on my novel, a really great book I read... but I'm getting tired. Plus, as interested as you are (heeheeheee), you probably don't have another 15 minutes to spend reading Delicious as Pie today. That's okay. I'll save some good stuff for tmro.

Night-night, Delicious Readers. I miss you! (That's code for leave me a comment! I want to know how you're all doing. :))

Friday, September 9, 2011

Not a good night for those afraid of the dark, but we sure had a blast!

Some friends from down the street came over and we ended up Scrabbling for a couple hours. Their kids, and ours, ran amok for several hours and *gasp* found out what it's like to live without instant technological gratification!

No Kinect? Nope.

No microwave? Nu-huh.

Candles? You got it, kid.

We barbequed dinner instead of making stew as I'd planned and ate cold canned carrots and sliced apples. Delicious! (Scott added bbqed trout to his dinner, as well, and enjoyed it thoroughly.)

Then what do you do when the power's been out for hours and your ice cream's melthing?

You eat it!!!!!

Christine and Charlotte, our visiting friends, ran home to get their ice cream. Sundaes, anyone?

Thanks to the flash on my camera you can clearly see what we could barely see...

This is the view from our balcony. Normally above that house, you'd see cars on the freeway and the lights of a shopping center--mostly the Office Depot sign emblazoned in red. LOL

Taking care of the dishes Little House style

You scream, I scream, we all scream for (melting) ice cream!

Hayley pulled out all our tea light candles and put them in paper coffee cups to make awesome little lanterns. Charlotte's watching, entranced. Although we're not sure if she's entranced by candle light or her hero, Hayley. LOL

Emma had the great idea to make popcorn the old fashioned way... without a microwave! The kids have never had popcorn made a in a pot and we four adults hadn't had it since childhood. Oh my gracious, it was AMAZING! Adios, microwave popcorn!

Scott enjoyed his dinner on the patio--it was too hot to stay inside.

Emma, Charlotte and Hayley stargazing... definitely not an easy thing to do when the lights of San Diego reflect into the atmosphere.

Right after I took the stargazing photos, Charlotte's older sister, Natalie, arrived with her dad, Dave. We hung out for another couple hours, then Natalie stayed to spend the night. Her family was kind enough to give us two bags of ice so we filled our cooler and stashed the milk, oj, mayo, cheese, etc. (I still ended up throwing out the milk and mayo since they were in the power-less fridge for seven hours. Better safe than sorry, right?)

All of us slept downstairs since upstairs was about three bazillion degrees. The girls slept on the couches while Scott and I commandeered the guest room bed. We brushed our teeth by candlelight, went to the bathroom in the dark and fell asleep in dark, dark, darkness.

Power came on about 1:20 am. The bathroom light had been left on and Scott and I saw the light come on. We both thought one of the girls got up. Then it occurred to me that no, the power was on! Yippee!

But due to the uncertainly of when the power would return, the superintendent cancelled school today. It's a Southern California snow day! The girls and I ran a couple errands. And I actually remembered to take pix for all you Delicious Readers out there!

No refrigerated treats at Starbucks! They had to throw everything away. Lucky for me, though, they'd gotten a shipment of milk in this morning. Thank goodness!

Trader Joe's donated all their perishables last night. What you see in this photo is the vestiges of their early morning shipment. I scored the last gallon of 2% milk. (Not what we normally drink, but better than whole, right?)

I thought the shelves at Ralph's would be completely clear of water, but not so much. I bought several gallons since our neighborhood is on a water boil order.

Thank goodness for power because I had to look up the specifications of a water boil order. I knew about boiling water before drinking it, but what about showers, washing dishes and um... hand washing?

Here's the low down...

short showers are fine, but keep your eyes and mouth shut

using the dishwasher is fine since the water gets hot enough to kill all bacteria

when hand washing dishes, let them soak in a bleach/water bath for a few minutes

Thursday, September 8, 2011

I cannot believe it. The other day she was this itty-bitty squishy of a baby and now she's in middle school!!!

We had dinner at Olive Garden. Did you know they no longer sing or provide free desserts? Apparently, too many people complained that it was annoying. (I can understand the signing being annoying, but free dessert? It's should be a God-given right!) Anyway, we had a great server and she made a little dessert plate from Andes Candies... including the candle!

Is it time yet? I've been waiting all day! I've been waiting for 364 days! Can I open them yet? Mommmmmmmmm, when can I open them?

Both sets of grandparents joined the celebration via Skype. Here's Hayley with Grandma Barbara.

Here's Grandma Sue and Grandpa Dick.

And then there was pie. Chocolate cream pie made by the birthday girl herself. Es muy deliciouso!

Monday, September 5, 2011

We went out to Red Robin for dinner tonight and while we waited (endlessly, it seemed) for our food, I reached into my purse and pulled out a game that I'd torn from Real Simple Family... "10 Dinner Chat Topics"

And here, my Delicious Readers, are some of my family's answers. They are just hysterical!

1. Name five things you would take to a desert island?

Hayley: helicopter, airplane, ship, cell phone, snacks

Emma: dessert, private jet, extra fuel, a runway for the airplane, people to work the runway

Scott: ice cream machine, cow for milk, Mom (heehee), multi-tool, sunscreen (Emma wanted to know how he would purify the milk. I want to know how Mr. Lactose Intolerant is going to eat all that ice cream without taking a b-load of lactose pills with him.)

2. You can go get anyone from the past and bring him or her to the present for one hour. Whom would you bring and what would you do with that person?

Hayley: Dolly Madison. She loved oyster-flavored ice cream. I'd give her normal flavors like chocolate to see what she thinks!

Kate: Jesus. I'd ask him how to help people get along.

Scott: Abraham Lincoln. I'd take him boogey boarding. (This is a reference to Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.) Hayley then said, "Would you really want to see that much of Abraham Lincoln?" Hahahahahahhahahahhahahahaha!)

3. If parents could switch places with kids for a day or kids switch places with parents, what would you do?

Emma: put Tabasco on your tongue (She's referring to a method of discipline in our household.)

Hayley: bury all the dishes in the house in mud and make you clean them all

Kate: I'd go to the beach and play all day! Boogey-board and build sand castles and not ever think about the time or getting home to make dinner or checking sunscreen on kids' shoulders or worrying about sharks.

4. You can't time travel, but you can send one object back in time to anyone you want. What would you send and whom would you send it to?

Hayley: I'd go back to when Mom was a little girl and kept dropping the milk. I'd give her a wagon to carry it in!" (She's referring to when my mom would send me up to the corner store for milk. Without fail, my little arms would get tired and I'd drop the gallon within feet of the same spot. Every time. Sweet Hayley wanted to give me a wagon! Ahahahahaha! I love it!) (Hayley also wanted to send my novel-in-progress to Jane Austen to get her opinion on it. How funny is that?)

Emma: I'd send a Get Out of Jail Free pass to Rosa Parks. (Okaaaaayyyyy then. I don't know where she comes up with this stuff, but yay, Emma!!!! LOL)

Sunday, September 4, 2011

This past year of Girl Scouts was not ideal, to say the least. So this year, I'm taking matters into my own hands!

I'm starting a multi-level troop.

A multi-level troop is one in which there is more than one level of girls... I'll have Juniors (4th & 5th graders), Cadettes (6th-8th graders) and Seniors (9th-10th graders). Heaven help me when it comes time to plan badges, right? LOL

Today, though, was the first hurdle in the GS year: the Parent Meeting. It went great! I have a co-leader (on paper) and a treasurer! Hooray! I won't have to handle the money stuff. Yippee!

As of right now, I have seven girls in the troop. I desperately want more, especially in the Senior category. Poor Hayley is the only Senior and she needs buddies. I need to find out about other Girl Scouts the local high schools. She can't possibly be the only one.

Did you know that Girl Scouts is about to start is 100th year?!!!! How cool is that? 100 years of helping girls reach their potential. I love it.

I'm wondering just to manage a GS troop, manage the student store at the middle school and run the book fairs (also at the middle school). I haven't even had the opportunity to sign up to help at the high school yet!

What fun it all is! Although yesterday I was in crisis mode for a bit about GS. That was *not* so fun. But a trip to the farmer's market shook me out of my obsessing and everything was all better. The awesome parent meeting proved it. :)